North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services

You are here: Home / Archives for Reports and Publications

Reports and Publications

Forensic Expert Evidence Caselaw Database

//  by 

In this database, the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law has assembled reported decisions, chiefly by appellate courts, that discuss the admissibility of expert testimony regarding firearms, fingerprint, and shoeprint evidence. This database digests reported judicial rulings regarding that type of proffered expert testimony.

Forensic Expert Evidence Caselaw DatabaseRead More

Capacity to Proceed in Criminal Cases in North Carolina

//  by 

This 2025 Administration of Justice Bulletin by John Rubin covers the three main phases of the capacity-to-proceed process: a mental health examination; a hearing to determine capacity; and proceedings after a determination of incapacity—that is, involuntary commitment and disposition of the criminal case. 

Capacity to Proceed in Criminal Cases in North CarolinaRead More

Death Investigation: A Guide for the Scene Investigator

//  by 

NIJ and its multidisciplinary partners have released an updated technical guide for conducting collaborative death scene investigations. The 2024 guide accounts for key changes in the field, including:   This revised edition is a collaborative effort to update the content to ensure the best possible outcome for both death and criminal investigations today.

Death Investigation: A Guide for the Scene InvestigatorRead More

Law Enforcement Use of Probabilistic Genotyping, Forensic DNA Phenotyping, and Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy Technologies

//  by 

Proceedings of a 2024 National Academies of Sciences Workshop can be downloaded from this website.

Law Enforcement Use of Probabilistic Genotyping, Forensic DNA Phenotyping, and Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy TechnologiesRead More

False-Positive Rate for Suspected Drug-Related Deaths Following Full Autopsy

//  by 

Review of case files and autopsies from WF Baptist Medical Center to determine whether significant disease processes or injuries that would supersede the results of toxicologic testing and external examination findings alone were being missed

False-Positive Rate for Suspected Drug-Related Deaths Following Full AutopsyRead More

Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Field Drug Tests and Wrongful Convictions

//  by 

This report by the Penn Carey Law Quattrone Center provides the first-ever comprehensive analysis of presumptive drug field test usage across law enforcement agencies in the United States. Inexpensive and fast, these tests have become a tool of choice for law enforcement agencies. Unfortunately, they are notoriously imprecise and are known to produce “false positives,” …

Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Field Drug Tests and Wrongful ConvictionsRead More

Bitemark Analysis: A NIST Scientific Foundation Review

//  by 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has reviewed the scientific foundations of bitemark analysis, a forensic technique in which marks on the skin of a biting victim are compared with the teeth of a suspected biter and found that the field is not supported by sufficient data. NIST has published its findings in …

Bitemark Analysis: A NIST Scientific Foundation ReviewRead More

A Forensic Without the Science: Face Recognition in U.S. Criminal Investigations

//  by 

NACDL Training and Resource Counsel Clare Garvie has authored a new report titled A Forensic Without the Science: Facial Recognition in U.S. Criminal Investigations. Designed as a resource for defense attorneys, advocates, and the public, it outlines how police face recognition searches are prone to error from under-performing algorithms, the lack of training and cognitive …

A Forensic Without the Science: Face Recognition in U.S. Criminal InvestigationsRead More